Paula's Perspicacity

Main menu

Post navigation

FMF31 2018 Day 4: WHY

I am participating in 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes 2018 (all of my submissions can be found here).

Today’s prompt is: WHY

Of COURSE the below is what came to mind when I learned today’s prompt is “WHY.”

The image (and sound) of Nancy Kerrigan repeating WHY WHY WHY? after being attacked is permanently seared in my head. As many people who know me are aware, I was in Detroit attending this very competition when the incident occurred.

Nancy Kerrigan deserved every single “why” she uttered.

Speaking only for myself, though, I treat issues that are much more minor in nature with the same angst, yelling WHY WHY WHY? into the universe, mostly in my head rather than out loud, but it’s still my inclination to question and rail instead of accept and problem solve.

Therefore, I am going to let this prompt be a reminder that things that feel like dramatic attacks … aren’t always. I don’t want to be pollyanna about this, but sometimes the events that seem to have no productive resolution and threaten to cause endless grief actually do lead to growth.

It’s my tendency to ask “why.” I wish I could funnel that a bit better professionally, because I do strongly believe in getting at root causes before jumping to solutions. It’s what underpins most of the way I work with people who ask me to hear them out as they need to vent or work through a problem.

Over decades, though, I have loosened my self-imposed (and intensely trained) prohibition against asking the occasional closed-ended question or (gasp!) giving a piece of advice.

Sometimes it takes more than asking “why?” … it takes moving forward and embracing a solution.